**Chapter 93: Heaven-Thieving Hands**
"I've lost."
The Cripple spat out a mouthful of turbid air and smiled with satisfaction. "Strength overcomes all techniques. Mu'er, your power is now great enough to compensate for any lack in skill. You've passed. By the way, how did your cultivation suddenly improve so much? I couldn't even unload your force in time."
Qin Mu relaxed and laughed, "I went out with the Village Chief, and when we returned, my Spirit Womb..."
The Village Chief coughed urgently. Qin Mu asked in confusion, "Village Chief, what's wrong?"
"Just startled by your strike." The Village Chief coughed twice more. "You've passed the first gate. Now, the second gate?"
The Cripple pulled the pig's trotter from his mouth and limped over, chuckling. "Mu'er, we won't compare fist arts. Let's compare footwork. Look up—do you see that cloud?"
Qin Mu looked up and saw a white cloud drifting lazily. The Cripple laughed, "Let's race to that cloud and see who gets there first."
Qin Mu hesitated, then nodded. The Cripple smiled kindly, "You're young, and I love the young. I'll let you go first."
Qin Mu wore a modest smile. "I respect the elders. You go first."
"You're young. You go first."
"Your health isn't good, Grandpa. You should go first."
...
They both wore false smiles, pushing the other to go first for quite some time. The Butcher grabbed two large cleavers and shouted, "Enough nonsense! That cloud is drifting away! If you don't run now, I'll chop you both to bits!"
Qin Mu and the Cripple burst forward almost simultaneously. Qin Mu's steps were swift, wind rising beneath his feet. Just as he was about to leap into the air, the Cripple had already surged ahead into the sky. Qin Mu pressed his palm downward, and the wind beneath the Cripple's feet suddenly blew toward the ground. The Cripple flailed and fell from the sky.
Qin Mu immediately rushed forward, overtaking the Cripple. But just as he was riding the wind, his legs suddenly tightened—two qi threads bound his legs firmly, and he plummeted headfirst toward the ground.
The Cripple laughed, a qi whip appearing in his hand that had bound Qin Mu's legs.
Qin Mu fell, and the one-legged elder stepped on him, about to leap into the air.
But then Qin Mu's qi erupted, shattering the qi whip. He grabbed the Cripple's leg and kicked at the Cripple's face with his own. They crashed to the ground with a boom, dust rising.
The Cripple tapped the ground with his cane, the Heaven-Thieving Leg Arts displaying masterful skill as he attacked Qin Mu. Qin Mu lay on the ground, attacking only at the cane, kicking out countless times. After taking a dozen kicks from the Cripple, he finally shattered the Cripple's cane.
The Cripple stood on one leg, angry. "Brat, who taught you to be so underhanded?"
Qin Mu slapped the ground hard with both hands, flipping himself upward headfirst. The Cripple sneered, crouched on one leg, then sprang into the air.
Just as he leaped, Qin Mu, now above him, struck downward with both palms. His qi transformed into Black Tortoise qi, water ripples appearing in the air, then forming water dragons that shot toward the Cripple.
"Child's play!"
The Cripple chuckled, generating wind with his hands to deflect the water dragons. His qi actually formed a pair of transparent legs that ran through the air, threatening to overtake Qin Mu.
Qin Mu split his legs in midair, doing the splits, then pressed his hands against the air to flip himself upright. He brought his legs together and sprinted, targeting the Cripple's back.
The two ran through the air, their leg arts displaying cunning and unpredictable moves, their bodies shifting so fast that the spectators below were dazzled.
Suddenly, the Cripple's arm moved like a shadow, unpredictable and ghostly. The Heaven-Thieving technique deployed. Before Qin Mu could react, he felt his belt loosen—the Cripple had pulled his trousers down to his ankles.
He immediately tripped himself, and then felt a chill as his clothes were also used by the Cripple to bind his hands. Qin Mu fell from the sky, quickly breaking free of his shirt, pulling up his pants while running and fastening his belt. He shouted angrily, "Grandpa Cripple, you never taught me that move!"
The Cripple laughed heartily, "Catch me first, and I'll teach you!"
Qin Mu grinned and threw a punch. The dragon-shaped fist energy surged forward. The Cripple cried out in alarm and frantically dodged with erratic footwork.
Qin Mu refined qi into threads—qi threads as thick as arms coiled toward the Cripple like great serpents. Once caught, escape would be nearly impossible. The Cripple dodged again but was already caught up to. Helplessly, he said, "I'll teach you, I'll teach you."
The two approached with false smiles. Just as the Cripple was about to strike, Qin Mu suddenly sealed his Three Souls and Seven Spirits with lightning speed, then kicked the old man out of the sky.
SPLAT!
The Cripple crashed into the ground, creating a body-shaped crater, then slowly climbed out, weeping with joy. "Worthy of being my student—didn't trust others blindly."
Qin Mu quickened his pace and caught up to the cloud, then ran down at an angle, taking several quick steps on the ground before stopping.
The Cripple laughed, "What I promised you, I won't go back on my word. After you pass all nine gates, I'll teach you the Heaven-Thieving Hands."
Qin Mu was overjoyed.
The Butcher raised his knife and asked, "Mu'er, do you need a rest?"
Qin Mu immediately nodded, sat down to rest, drank tea to replenish his fluids, rested for a while, then ran to put on another set of clothes. The Butcher's face darkened, muttering, "Brat, with such abundant qi cultivation, why rest? Why don't you just fight? That way I might have a chance..."
After a while longer, Qin Mu picked up another butcher's knife from the collapsed smithy. The two knives crossed, and he said, "Grandpa Butcher, I'm ready!"
The Butcher sneered, "You originally used one knife. Why two now?"
Qin Mu held one knife forward in his right hand and the other reverse in his left. The Butcher's expression grew serious. He also reversed his blade grip, holding his knife in his left hand reverse-grip. He sneered, "Brat, want to fight me up close? You're still too green..."
The Herbalist coughed and warned, "Butcher, you don't have a lower body. If he gets close, you're at a disadvantage. He has more muscle than you."
The Butcher's face darkened again. "He won't get close. My blade arts will keep him outside..."
Old Ma reminded him, "His qi is abnormally powerful—two or three times yours. When your knife meets his, it'll be knocked away, and you'll be thrown back too. You can only win with skill."
"Then why bother fighting?"
The Butcher was furious and stuck both knives in the ground. His eyes darted, then he smiled. "Mu'er, sit down. We won't use knives—just sensing qi. Let's touch hands."
Qin Mu stuck his butcher's knife in the ground and sat across from him. The two used their hands as blades, their palms touching. Both closed their eyes, sensing the changes in the other's palm force to deduce the movement of muscles, the circulation of qi, the distribution of strength, then attacking the opening for a killing blow.
This was the secret of Drawing the Blade from the Forbidden.
Drawing the Blade from the Forbidden—chariots and horses rumble like thunder. Alone I enter the palace, carrying the king's head in my hand.
This poem meant: I draw my blade and leave the emperor's forbidden palace, outside the chariots and horses thunder like storms, countless troops block my path, yet I enter the palace alone, carrying the king's head in my hand.
This move's imposing bearing and spirit were unmatched by any other technique—wild, domineering, ignoring everything.
But this move was also the Butcher's most skillful technique, requiring ultimate control of one's own strength and complete mastery of the enemy's strength—the pinnacle of combat arts!
Their palms touched, and the movement of their muscles, the circulation of qi, the distribution of strength—Qin Mu almost instantly perceived that the Butcher's qi was far inferior to his own. At the moment he struck with his hand-blade, the Butcher had already sensed his strength changes, blocking preemptively, while his other hand slashed at Qin Mu's opening!
The Butcher was still superior in skill.both reaction or experience far exceeded Qin Mu's. But when the Butcher blocked Qin Mu's strike, he realized something was wrong—his entire body was sent flying, the force of Qin Mu's hand-blade blasting him out of the village and into the mountain forest beyond.
Qin Mu looked down and saw that his newly changed clothes had been torn by the Butcher's strike. He thought to himself, "That was close."
His cultivation was too powerful. Though his blade skills were still inferior to the Butcher's, using his cultivation to crush the Butcher was entirely possible.
"I've lost!"
The Butcher leaped back into the village from outside, landing on his hands. He said freely, "I've lost! Herbalist, Deaf, you don't need to compete either. Your cultivation isn't as strong as his!"
The Deaf sneered, "Who said I was going to compare cultivation or brute strength with him? Mu'er, I've painted two dragons."
SWISH—
He unfurled two scrolls, hanging them on a pole. Two ink dragons leaped from the paper, vivid and lifelike, as if they might fly away at any moment. But strangely, neither dragon had eyes.
"Over the years, I've taught you the arts of painting and calligraphy. These arts aren't the clumsy tools of fighting and killing—they're the play of the clever, requiring insight."
The Deaf set out his brush and said solemnly, "These two dragons I painted with divine art. Once their eyes are dotted, they can transform into dragons and fly. But at the Spirit Womb realm, it's impossible to achieve 'dotting the dragon's eyes.' However, if cultivation isn't enough, then skill in painting must compensate. I taught you 'the single touch of inspiration bestows soul.' Today, I'll compete with you in 'the single touch of inspiration'—see who can, at the Spirit Womb realm, bring these two dragons to life and send them soaring into the sky!"